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Communication plan to support NHS capital development

Summary

Isle of Wight NHS Trust commissioned Blue Lozenge to develop a communication and engagement strategy for their £48 million Investing in Our Future Programme, a major estates and digital transformation project. Blue Lozenge conducted a discovery phase including stakeholder interviews, focus groups, and a programme team workshop, before developing a full communication and engagement strategy covering audiences, channels, tactics, risks, governance, and a detailed delivery plan. A bespoke communications toolkit was provided to enable the in-house team to deliver the communication workstream independently, ensuring a sustainable and consistent programme of engagement with stakeholders and the public.

Developing a strategic engagement plan to support healthcare investment

As part of their estates and digital transformation agenda, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust were seeking to transform the health and care for their local population through a £48 million capital investment project, the Investing in Our Future Programme.

Blue Lozenge was tasked by the programme team to develop a communication and engagement strategy for the project. The communication and engagement strategy needed a compelling narrative, that would help the programme gain the support of a complex network of stakeholders including, the public, the workforce, local and national stakeholders.

Approach to communications strategy

The first phase of our approach was all about discovery. As an extension of the programme team, we analysed their project to understand their strengths and challenges from a communication and engagement perspective. We looked at best practice and helped the team understand the current view of stakeholders and their audiences.  We worked with their communication team and the broader health and care system to understand the best channels and ways to reach key audiences. An in depth programme of research including stakeholder interviews and focus groups helped us to understand key themes. A workshop with the programme team enabled us to agree their key communication priorities.

We developed a full communication and engagement strategy and implementation plan for the programme. This included the communication strategy and approach; audiences and stakeholders; channels and tactics; risks and issues; and governance and sign off.

The delivery plan detailed communication timing and channels, including which messages, assets, and channels should be used when and with what audience. We ensured there was a process for conversations and two-way communication and mechanism for the programme to listen and respond to feedback. We provided a communications toolkit specifically for the Investing in Our Future Programme, to help the organisation implement and deliver the communication workstream without being reliant on external resource.

Outcome

The communications and engagement strategy and delivery plan that we developed, with the programme’s key audiences, provided a clear road map and next steps for the in-house team. The programme team could be consistent and clearly articulate the benefits of the programme and ensure there was a sustainable programme of communication.